Stone Circle

Folklore

In 'Secret Britain', (published by Guild Publishing, London), it was said 'that in lean times, a beautiful white cow appeared at Mitchell's fold. No matter how many came to milk her, so long as each person filled just one pail, she would never run dry. But when an old witch called Mitchell milked her dry by milking her into a sieve she vanished, never to return.'

In some versions the cow is said to have transformed into the rampaging Dun Cow of Dunchurch, Warks, which was eventually killed by Guy of Warwick.

The story of the Witch and the White Cow is said to have been attached to the circle in the 18th Century. At around the same time, another story told of 'Medgel's Fold', a place where a giant kept his cows. The name is a suggestion that the circle was a 'pound' or 'fold' of a giant.

The story of the magic white cow is also associated with the stone circle at Callanish, Lewis.